Slideshow by Luke Younger

The Nazi invasion of Poland 1939

20683181 — 2024-03-25 19:59:51 UTC

German blitzkrieg overthrows Poland ending in a short German victory this battle was the deciding factor in the war starting Britain and France both declare war on Germany

The fall of france 1940

20683181 — 2024-03-25 20:05:26 UTC

after the defeat in ww1 france builds the Maginot line blocking their border with German they put massive defensives and trenches that stretched the entire line although their efforts were unmatched for German forces since France surrenders only 10 days later when German troops made it to France's northern coast

miracle at dunkirk spring 1940

20683181 — 2024-03-25 20:10:19 UTC

After german forces quickly took over France many allied and french troops were stuck in dunkirk with german forces surrounding them when 850 British ships successfully saved around 338,000 soldiers

The battle of britain summer of 1940-may 1941

20683181 — 2024-03-25 20:17:50 UTC

Germany launched mostly nightly bombing raids although new British technology allows the RAF to hold off Hitler and prove he can be stopped since they won the year long battle

operation barbarossa June 1941

20683181 — 2024-03-25 20:23:57 UTC

Germany breaks their non-aggression pact and invades the Soviet Union Germany needed that land because of the vital resources and large land mass although in the end it just lead to prolonged and brutal conflict on the eastern front this battle also shattered any dreams of winning In the eastern front

The battle of stalingrad August 23, 1942, to February 2, 1943

20683181 — 2024-03-25 20:30:04 UTC

This battle ended up as one of the bloodiest battles in history it set up the German army against Soviet forces both sides engaging in street fighting within stalingrad combined with a harsh winter ended up with a large loss for Germany this battle also shifted the momentum in favor of the allies

pearl harbor december 7 1941

20683181 — 2024-03-26 17:39:53 UTC

the japanese made this surprise attack in return for the us cutting off their oil supply 19 American ships sunk or damaged and more then 2000 us troops were killed after this the us fully enters the war

D-day Normandy, France June 6th 1944

20683181 — 2024-03-26 17:46:12 UTC

the Normandy landings were a mass invasion of Europe led by supreme allied commander dwight d. eisenhower it was a big win for the allies and ended up as the largest sea and land attack in history this battle also led to the liberation of Belgium, France and Luxembourg.

The liberation of Europe

20683181 — 2024-03-26 17:51:24 UTC

after d-day allied soldiers push into Paris and eventually freed France soviet troops also start another offensive from the east u.s and British soldiers make quick progress liberating west as they go and Hitler commits suicide later that month in April 1945 Germany also surrenders the next month

The battle of midway June 4th 1942

20683181 — 2024-03-26 17:55:40 UTC

japan threathed midway to distract the entire us fleet to the island although failed since the us attacked the aircraft carriers and won the battle

The battle of guadalcanal august 1942–february 1943

20683181 — 2024-03-26 18:01:57 UTC

this battle was targeted at a Japanese airbase although it didn't end well for the allies since the battle quickly turned into a savage struggle with more then 24,000 dead

the battles of Iwo jima and okinawa february – june 1945

20683181 — 2024-03-26 18:05:18 UTC

this battle resulted in brutal fighting on these two islands near Japan both sides also had extremely casualties on both sides

hiroshima and nagasaki August 6 and 9th, 1945

20683181 — 2024-03-26 18:09:39 UTC

President truman believed that a invasion of Japan might've costed a million lives dropping the bomb was the easiest and fastest way to end the war although over 140,000 Japanese civilians were killed even though radiation fallout killed many more

VJ day August 14 1945

20683181 — 2024-03-26 18:13:04 UTC

civilians all around the u.s erupted with celebration